Did Half & Half Change, Too?

[Snook]

I recently ordered some more Half & Half for the cellar. Unfortunately, several of the cans showed up busted with tobacco leaking out. Not a huge deal as I was able to get them replaced for free and was also able to keep the broken ones. While jarring up the loose tobacco, I decided to take the opportunity to have a bowl as I wasn't planning on getting into the 7oz cans for several years. However, I couldn't help but notice that both the tin note and taste seemed different. It didn't seem like the other Half & Half that I've been smoking (a few years old, from the 14oz tubs).

At the time I was coming off a bit of a cold, so I just attributed it to that. I've since taken another few whiffs of the jar and had another bowl, and now I'm certain that something is different. It's not bad... it's just not quite the same. Thankfully I have 8 more of the 14oz tubs in my cellar, so I'm not too bummed. I just don't know if I'll bother cellaring any more of the "new" stuff.

Does anyone else enjoy H&H? Have you noticed a difference in it as of late? I wouldn't be surprised with all of the other changes that have been talked about on here.

 

[NookersTheCat]

Yes, in my humble opinion it has. So much so that I was actually going to make my own thread on this myself any day now but was going to wait until popping open one of my old 14oz cans as well to compare... but I recently opened a new 7oz and it is nothing compared to what I remember smoking over a decade ago when I started. The leaf itself looks more monotone (like it's almost all burley now) drier, and the topping is very faint, missing some of that signature coumarin scent, and fades practically at first light.

Other people may think we are crazy but I'm on board with you.. it is not the same tobacco since STG closed Tucker. Just another one of my favorites murdered.. at least I still have a couple of the tins left of what it used to be but again, I feel really sad for all the people who either started or were out of the game for a few years. Imagine putting the pipe down 10 years ago in 2015 and then coming back now... it wouldn't be recognizable

 

[Snook]

Yes, in my humble opinion it has. So much so that I was actually going to make my own thread on this myself any day now but was going to wait until popping open one of my old 14oz cans as well to compare... but I recently opened a new 7oz and it is nothing compared to what I remember smoking over a decade ago when I started. The leaf itself looks more monotone (like it's almost all burley now) drier, and the topping is very faint, missing some of that signature coumarin scent, and fades practically at first light.

Other people may think we are crazy but I'm on board with you.. it is not the same tobacco since STG closed Tucker. Just another one of my favorites murdered.. at least I still have a couple of the tins left of what it used to be but again, I feel really sad for all the people who either started or were out of the game for a few years. Imagine putting the pipe down 10 years ago in 2015 and then coming back now... it wouldn't be recognizable

Darn. I was hoping it was just in my head, but I suppose I'm glad I'm not the only one that has noticed. I agree with the monotone color of the leaf. The blend on the whole seems far more one dimensional now.

Where is my coriander?! Where is my maize?!

 

[Gerald Boone]

I recently ordered some more Half & Half for the cellar. Unfortunately, several of the cans showed up busted with tobacco leaking out. Not a huge deal as I was able to get them replaced for free and was also able to keep the broken ones. While jarring up the loose tobacco, I decided to take the opportunity to have a bowl as I wasn't planning on getting into the 7oz cans for several years. However, I couldn't help but notice that both the tin note and taste seemed different. It didn't seem like the other Half & Half that I've been smoking (a few years old, from the 14oz tubs).

At the time I was coming off a bit of a cold, so I just attributed it to that. I've since taken another few whiffs of the jar and had another bowl, and now I'm certain that something is different. It's not bad... it's just not quite the same. Thankfully I have 8 more of the 14oz tubs in my cellar, so I'm not too bummed. I just don't know if I'll bother cellaring any more of the "new" stuff.

Does anyone else enjoy H&H? Have you noticed a difference in it as of late? I wouldn't be surprised with all of the other changes that have been talked about on here.

I like half and half as well; not my favorite but I like it. I buy mine in a shop in Prestonsberg Ky and they always tell me: "just so you know, that pouch is over 3 years old". The tobacco has always been great and now, granted your experience, I think maybe I better buy as much as I can.

 

[Snook]

I like half and half as well; not my favorite but I like it. I buy mine in a shop in Prestonsberg Ky and they always tell me: "just so you know, that pouch is over 3 years old". The tobacco has always been great and now, granted your experience, I think maybe I better buy as much as I can.

Not a bad idea. Like I said, the "new" stuff isn't bad. Just not the same. Couldn't hurt to buy up some pouches while they have the old ones.

 

[Briarcutter]

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if it's been changed. I still have a quart from the 14oz tub I'm working on. Haven't tried the 7ouncers.

 

[NookersTheCat]

Like I said, the "new" stuff isn't bad. Just not the same.

See I think that's why they get away with this... it's not BAD tobacco... but it's just definitely not the same Half & Half...
But for as many people who realize that and stop buying it I'm sure there will be new customers who'd never had the old one to compare it to and therefore believe, "Well, this is what Half & Half is..."

 

[Briar Lee]

Half and Half from 1 1/2 pouches doesn’t seem to have changed since te first package I bought in 1972 except it’s sort of pressed into a tobacco candy bar now.

I have several 7 ounce cans, and they don’t seem quite as good as the pouches.

But six ounce Cokes were better than modern Cokes too.

 

[KingPiper]

I just opened a pouch I bought about a year ago here recently and have been really enjoying it. Date on it is 08/23. Not sure if thats “the old stuff” or not but for my first experience with it I can’t complain. Makes me curious though whether I am smoking the new formula or the old

 

[BingBong]

Well maybe it's Fifteen Thirtysecond And Seventeen Thirtysecond now? They should rename accordingly.

 

[KingPiper]

Well maybe it's Fifteen Thirtysecond And Seventeen Thirtysecond now? They should rename accordingly.

Yeah quarter and three quarters just ain’t what it was when it was still half and half

 

[PipePic]

I havent smoked half and half since roughly 2007. So would i be dissapointed in the new stuff,,

or does the partially unsmoked cardboard box and foil envelope stuff deserve to be rehydrated and smoked as a good by and shunning of the new?

 

[NookersTheCat]

I havent smoked half and half since roughly 2007. So would i be dissapointed in the new stuff,,

or does the partially unsmoked cardboard box and foil envelope stuff deserve to be rehydrated and smoked as a good by and shunning of the new?

The old stock definitely deserves a rehydration... and I'd say the new deserves at least a try. It's not necessarily bad.. it's just not what the old stuff used to be... at least not the lot that I picked up. The cut was more inconsistent, the both types of tobacco seemed too consistent (almost like it was just all burley) and the topping was definitely nowhere near as pungent and distinctive as it used to be.

I still have 2 sealed tins of the old stuff from the last of the Lane Tucker stock, so one day soon I'm going to crack one to do a direct comparison, if only to prove to myself that I'm not going insane
I'll definitely be sure to take photos and make a post about it if nobody else does. I also have a few sealed foil pouches of 70's/80's production too from my father so I'll probably crack one of them as well and do a serious photo comparison of 50 years.

 

[Sig]

H&H used to contain Deer Tongue when it was made by the American Tobacco Company. Then they changed it to a synthetic copy of DT whrn Pinkerton made it, which wasn't very close. And now they are using a annise flavoring.
This was the info I got from STG last year when I emailed them.
They said it was a combination of the price of Deer Tongue and the "health concerns" of DT that caused Pinkerton to change it.
I'll look for the email, I probably have it saved.

 

[NookersTheCat]

H&H used to contain Deer Tongue when it was made by the American Tobacco Company. Then they changed it to a synthetic copy of DT whrn Pinkerton made it, which wasn't very close. And now they are using a annise flavoring.
This was the info I got from STG last year when I emailed them.
They said it was a combination of the price of Deer Tongue and the "health concerns" of DT that caused Pinkerton to change it.
I'll look for the email, I probably have it saved.

I've read this too. My thing though is just that it seems like when they moved production from Tucker the new copy isn't even like the old copy, which I did love

 

[PipePic]

makes me sad. Nothing has managed to get by

 

[burleybreath]

Half and Half has been so f--k'd up so many times over the years that it no longer resides anywhere in my stash or want list. I grew up with its distinctive scent, due to my uncles' and grandfather's smoking it almost exclusively. I'm pretty sure the makers even experimented with chopped homogenized leaf at one time in the late '60s, unless my little 30-power microscope lied.

The last time it had the original formula, or at least scent, that I remember, was early to mid-'70s. I smoked it exclusively in the cab of a 988 Cat, loading gravel trucks. When I arrived for work every morning, the cab reeked of that distinctive scent. Can't believe it would do so today. With me, it's just A Remembrance of Things Past.

Besides, I prefer Pegasus. Maybe if I want deer tongue, I'll try some Engine #382. There's better stuff out there than what now passes for the old Half and Half.

 

[Searock Fan]

Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that H&H seems to burn up faster than most other blends?

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

Half and Half has been so f--k'd up so many times over the years that it no longer resides anywhere in my stash or want list. I grew up with its distinctive scent, due to my uncles' and grandfather's smoking it almost exclusively. I'm pretty sure the makers even experimented with chopped homogenized leaf at one time in the late '60s, unless my little 30-power microscope lied.

The last time it had the original formula, or at least scent, that I remember, was early to mid-'70s. I smoked it exclusively in the cab of a 988 Cat, loading gravel trucks. When I arrived for work every morning, the cab reeked of that distinctive scent. Can't believe it would do so today. With me, it's just A Remembrance of Things Past.

Besides, I prefer Pegasus. Maybe if I want deer tongue, I'll try some Engine #382. There's better stuff out there than what now passes for the old Half and Half.

View attachment 400733

My dad smoked Half & Half during the ‘70’s when I was a kid. I would open the foil pouch and smell it on occasion. I loved the pouch note. For nostalgia sake I bought a pouch a few years ago. I opened the plastic pouch expecting to be taken back in time, but nothing. It didn’t seem as I remembered. But, that was fifty years ago so memories can fade. Maybe my sniffer is worn out, ha, ha. Usually smells trigger emotional reactions, this didn’t. I smoke it on occasion and it is OK, but I won’t repurchase when it is gone.

BTW…My dad was a heavy equipment operator at the same time as you. He operated big Cat bucket loaders and D9 bulldozers on the chip pile at the paper mill.

 

[Eireprof]

Half and Half has been so f--k'd up so many times over the years that it no longer resides anywhere in my stash or want list. I grew up with its distinctive scent, due to my uncles' and grandfather's smoking it almost exclusively. I'm pretty sure the makers even experimented with chopped homogenized leaf at one time in the late '60s, unless my little 30-power microscope lied.

The last time it had the original formula, or at least scent, that I remember, was early to mid-'70s. I smoked it exclusively in the cab of a 988 Cat, loading gravel trucks. When I arrived for work every morning, the cab reeked of that distinctive scent. Can't believe it would do so today. With me, it's just A Remembrance of Things Past.

Besides, I prefer Pegasus. Maybe if I want deer tongue, I'll try some Engine #382. There's better stuff out there than what now passes for the old Half and Half.

View attachment 400733

Agreed. Pegasus!